The Top 5 Reasons to Come Prepared for Boot Camp

As someone who has talked to literally thousands of recruits before they leave for basic training, it always amazes me how many go unprepared. Below are the top 5 reasons why you should arrive at boot camp fully prepared. Hopefully this list will motivate recruits who have done little or nothing to prepare for their rendezvous with drill sergeants.

5) Fitness- You’ve been to the gym and you can bench press over 200 pounds. So what? You don’t do bench presses at basic training. Stop those bench presses, put your palms on the pavement, and start banging out some push ups. Do as many as you can, rest a day, then repeat trying to break your previous record. Do the same routine for sit ups. If you show up at basic training unprepared physically, you will add stress to an already stressful situation.

4) Don’t go hungry- Who likes to go to bed hungry? Not me. In basic training you only get 3 to 5 minutes to eat your meals (on a good day). Eating meals at basic training doesn’t mean it’s time to kick off those boots and relax. In fact, eating meals at basic training is more of a competition than anything else. There are techniques and methods you can learn to get more food and nutrients in your stomach so you aren’t the one up at night with a grumbling stomach.

3) Sleepless nights- You will probably be shipped off to boot camp in a different time zone than you live. If this happens you will have to adjust to the time change quickly. You don’t get much sleep in basic training, so you are going to cherish every minute. Depending on where you live and where your basic training is, adjust your sleeping schedule about 7 days before you arrive. If there is a 2 hour time difference, then go to bed 2 hours earlier and wake up 2 hours earlier. 

2) Shine like glass- The first time you shine your boots you are going to be bad at it. After a while, each soldier develops his or her own style for getting their boots to shine like glass. I suggest you practice shining your boots before you arrive at basic training. There is nothing a drill sergeant hates more than boots that don’t shine, so be a step ahead of the other recruits and learn how to shine your boots before you arrive at boot camp.

1) Understand the rules- Drill sergeants exist to break you down as a civilian and build you up into a soldier. They have a very short time to do this. This is why basic training is so stressful. If you understand where a drill sergeant is coming from mentally, you can focus on doing a good job, instead of questioning why you ever joined the military.

In my book The Ultimate Basic Training Guidebook, I focus on these 5 topics to make sure you will be more than prepared for a very stressful couple months.

SGT Michael Volkin is the author of The Ultimate Basic Training Series